


The Painter's Work of Art

by Anonymous



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alexis | Quackity Needs a Hug, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Apocalypse, Bad Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Bird Hybrid Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Blood and Violence, Creeper Hybrid Sam | Awesamdude, Eggpire on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Ghost Wilbur Soot, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Karl Jacobs Needs a Hug, Multi, Parent Cara | CaptainPuffy, Parent Sam | Awesamdude, Pig Hybrid Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Protective Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Sad Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Sapnap Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF), Sheep Hybrid Cara | CaptainPuffy, Suffering, Time Travelling Karl Jacobs, Traumatized Toby Smith | Tubbo, Traumatized Tommyinnit (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29817741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: "Why are you doing this? I thought you were on our side! I thought you wanted to fight the egg with us!!""Then you thought wrong."A pair of pleading eyes linked with other; one full of desperation and one full of amusement."You clearly don't understand, so I'll have to dumb it down for you. You see, Tubbo, the server would be so boring if there wasn't any chaos. That's why I did what I did. It had to be done."After all, I am chaos."
Relationships: Antfrost & Darryl Noveschosch, Dream SMP Ensemble & Dream SMP Ensemble, Dream SMP Ensemble & Everyone, Dream SMP Ensemble & TommyInnit, Jack Manifold & Niki | Nihachu, Ranboo & Toby Smtih | Tubbo, TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF) & Everyone
Kudos: 80
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanna clarify that this fic was purely self-indulgent and that it's what I imagined the corruption of the server would be. 
> 
> I'll update this once I'm done writing the second part.
> 
> Also I will be referencing a movie that was stuck in my head near the end of this work cuz I wanna use a character as plot :)
> 
> Hope u enjoy!

**The Syndicate's Meeting Room**

World Stronghold

Pro-Omelette Faction

Tuesday (4:36 AM)

"DAMN IT ALL!!!" Tubbo's scream echoed throughout the stronghold as he slammed his fist into the wall, denting it into the shape of a fist as the blood of his knuckles dripped onto the smooth stone floor.

"Tubbo, calm down," a voice to his right said as an attempt to soothe him. Ranboo. "Getting frustrated won't help us find him."

Tubbo turned to the Enderman hybrid and almost broke down in hysterics. He sat back down and placed his head in his hands. "How can I remain calm when my best friend's in the hands of the fucking _Eggpire_ of all things?"

"Ranboo's right, Tubbo. You need to calm down." Someone spoke up. Tubbo turned his gaze to the gruff voice of the piglin hybrid. "We're already wasting supplies by doing nothing."

Something inside him snapped. "It's funny that you say that, Technoblade. And whose fault was it that the resources got attacked?" Technoblade raised an eyebrow daringly at the ex-president of L'Manburg. He continued bitterly, "Wasn't it my absent surrogate father—oh, I'm sorry, I meant to say, your _best friend playing pretend?_ "

"Tubbo!" Philza shouted, scandalized.

Technoblade snarled as Philza held him back from killing the boy in front of him. "Don't talk about Phil like that. Remember whose base you are currently residing in. Oh wait, that's _mine_." The two glared at each other, unwilling to back down.

"Guys, guys, we need to focus," Ranboo said, trying to calm them down. "Tensions are running high, I know, but we shouldn't take it out on others. We should take it out on the Eggpire instead. It's already starting to spread towards the snowy tundra, and the snow is already infested with the infected and rotten walking around."

A few of the people in the meeting room shared a look of disgust as they glanced at one another, a foul expression painted on their faces as they remember the horrendous images of the the gnarly corpses roaming the land. 

It is truly a grotesque picture. 

~~(Just like its painter.)~~

"Last time I checked, there were at least two corrupted roaming the place," a feminine voice piped up. "By the time I went to pack up the rest of my belongings, a small group of rotten had spotted me and alerted the higher-ups."

"Did you see who they were, Puffy?" Sam asked as he stood behind Tubbo and Ranboo. He looked like a broken man who lost his light. His eyebags were larger than they were before, and his face was twisted into something more desperate and open in contrast to his calm and collected image.

"Sam, stop! You'll reopen your wounds at this rate." Ponk admonished the man. He tried to stop Sam from aggravating his wounds even further by lightly placing his hand on his right shoulder, but Sam batted off the hand in favor of asking Puffy questions. "Please tell me you saw Tommy. At least something related to Tommy."

A few people scoffed at the name being mentioned, namely Niki and Jack. The others were either concerned or apathetic as Sam looked at the sheep hybrid with a glint of hope and clear desperation in his eyes.

_He probably still blames himself_ , she thought sadly as her friend looked on the verge of a breakdown. _I don't blame him, nor Tubbo. None of us wanted it to happen._

_"I SAID GO!!!"_

_~~(We were right there and we couldn't do anything.USELESS!!!)~~ _

Puffy shook away the memory. She then glanced at him and responded, "Okay. Well, it started off like any other day in the Eggpocalypse. I was gathering my stuff back at my temporary house after running from a group of infected when I saw Punz walk inside a tent with a hoard of rotten and infected following his trail. AntFrost and him were talking about something, but I did catch a few words like 'experiment here', 'she's going to love this', 'quickly find', and....."

"... And?" Surprisingly, Eret spoke up. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, giving their undivided attention to Captain Puffy.

She paused, then promptly broke down in tears. "..... A-A-And I c-clearly heard h-h-him s-say—"

"' _Phase One is complete. Let's move on to Phase Two._ '"

The entire room felt shivers run down their spines. Many felt their repressed rage bubble up as they recalled the gruesome nation's use of infected people as cannon fodder.

"HOW DARE THEY!!" Quackity snarled, face shifting into something more animalistic, like a predator. Niki gasped. "The Eggpire's done so many cruel things, and this is only Phase _One?!_ How many more Phases will there be until they're satisfied?!"

Captain Puffy wiped her tears and continued, "T-They said that once Phase Two began, Phase Three would be ready..."

The group sat in silence, unable to process after hearing that this was only the beginning.

"... We still haven't seen Dream either," Sapnap spoke up, clearly shaken. George placed his hand over his to provide a bit of comfort. "Right after Tommy's death—"

Tubbo interrupted him, "Kidnapping." 

Sapnap, "—Kidnapping, Dream just vanished. None of us could find him anywhere. He wasn't in any of his bases—even his stuff was left untouched!!"

"You could be lying for all we know," Jack said skeptically, crossing his hands. "You were once friends with him. Who's to say that your not covering for him?"

"What good does it do for us to lie?" George countered him. "Almost the entire server is filled with slaves of the Egg!! The ground is already painted with so much blood that it might as well be red to begin with!! So what if we were once friends with him? That was ages ago!! What good does lying do to us when we're trying to survive?!"

"George is right," Karl said, frowning. He clasped his hands together in an attempt to ground himself. "It would do none of us any good by lying to each other, so stop tossing around accusations when we should be working together to stop the Eggpire." He then mumbled softly, "This is such an odd timeline..."

"So like I was saying, Dream just straight up _vanished_ ," Sapnap continued. "He didn't respond to any of our texts and calls, and he didn't leave any traces or hints of him being alive."

"What if he became an infected?" Niki piped up. "It's possible for his code to be corrupted. Maybe that's why he didn't respond?"

Fundy shook his head. "I doubt it." The others glanced at the fox hybrid warily. He took it as a sign to continue. "From what we've seen, it's only the people without nametags that become an infected or rotten. Didn't you notice that those with tags became a rotten or corrupted? Us, the players, become a rotten or corrupted when we're directly exposed to the Egg and the Blood Vines."

"So what you're saying is that Dream might be captured by the Eggpire?" Philza spoke up, looking a bit fearful. 

Fundy nodded. "It's a possibility."

"On another note, we need to talk about, y'know, _that_ ," Puffy said awkwardly, fidgeting in her seat as she avoided eye contact.

The atmosphere in the room became tense.

"... So you want me to talk about the incident," Technoblade said blandly. He hated being reminded of that particular fight.

It was a stain he could never get rid of in his title of "Blood God's Champion".

Ranboo stiffened beside Tubbo, clenching his fists on the small seat of the table. Philza's face turned into a grimace as he remembered that particular event.

"Y-Yeah," Puffy said lamely. "B-But! We still need more information on the Eggpire because they outnumber us, and we need to know how strong they are so we can plan an attack. Since that mysterious newbie is fighting for them, I don't think it's a stretch to say that they're part of the Eggpire. Do-Do you think you're comfortable in sharing it with us?" She stuttered, unsure if he was willing to retell his fight.

There was a moment of silence until the piglin hybrid spoke up,

"It all began with me getting some wood," Techno began, sighing. This was going to take a while.

* • * • *

_"Come back safe!" Philza said as he stood at the door, waving him goodbye._

_Technoblade grunted in response as he trampled on the fallen white snow, cape billowing in the wind with Ranboo following suit. The two hybrids bid their farewell to the old man as they went on their way to gather resources._

_They continued their walk while making small talk to each other. After walking for a few minutes, they saw a forest in the distance._

_"I'll go gather wood from the left side," Ranboo said softly. "Maybe you can go gather wood on the right? We can meet up when we see any infected or rotten roaming the area."_

_"Okay," Techno responded to him, and then went their separate ways. He left some markings on the trees to remind him of which way he was heading back. As the hybrid strolled through the forest, he stopped marking the trees and began to scan the area, searching for any sign of the Eggpire's lackeys._

This is one large forest, _he mused, an axe materializing into his right hand. Time to get rich._

_One by one, the wood began to turn into a compact block for Techno to pick up as he chopped down trees at a rapid pace. Wasting time is not an option_

_As Technoblade hacked and slashed away at the wood, he failed to notice a figure hidden behind a marked tree, watching him with a glowing eye._

_The figure slowly approached the Blood God's Champion, leisurely taking their time. As they lifted their foot from behind the tree to put it in front of the other while holding the bark for support, a crimson vine sprouted under the ground they stepped on and on the spot they placed their hand on. It increased in size at a rapid pace as it quickly branched out and latched onto the surrounding trees, corroding the wood and painting the dirty white snow with thick red vines._

_The sound of rustling did not pass by the piglin hybrid's sharp senses. He turned around, switching his axe with his famous netherite sword. He looked in horror at the bright red vines clinging onto the trees he marked._

Those weren't there before, _he thought in annoyance_. Someone is nearby. 

_"Who's there?" He gruffly called out, eyes wildly switching from tree to tree. The crimson abomination continued to spread at a rapid pace. Luckily, he doesn't see any groups of infected or rotten nearby. That would've posed a problem for him since the blood vines were already beginning to surround him. "Come out already. If you won't come out, don't blame me if you get killed then."_

_A crunch in the snow alerted him of the stranger's presence. Technoblade swiftly turned around and slashed in an arc motion from behind. Around the corner of his eyes, he sees the stranger jump back, avoiding the hit, but he managed to slice the clasp of the cloak in half. Technoblade glared at his anonymous assailant. "It's quite rude that you attack first and talk later."_

_"....." The cloaked stranger didn't respond, opting to intimidate the opponet. Technoblade sighed in annoyance. He grumbled, "What a pain..." They suddenly turned around and made a mad dash towards Techno, holding an enchanted netherite axe in hand._

_Technoblade promptly dodged and attacked back. It was a battle of strength as the two enchanted weapons clashed against one another with sparks flying from the metal._

_After struggling to overcome the opponent, the stranger jumped back, trying to put space between them. As he stood menacingly by the red vines, Technoblade can clearly see the suspicious person and their outfit._

_The mysterious figure had a dark ebony cloak with a red trim resembling vines on the bottom of the fabric. Their face was covered by a pitch black mask, and their hair was hidden behind the large hood outlined in a vivid red. The golden clasp he broke laid discarded on the cold ground, revealing a hint of royal robes within the cloak._

_They advanced towards Technoblade once more, and this time, Technoblade returned the blows with even more strength._

* • * • *

**The Syndicate's Meeting Room**

World Stronghold

Pro-Omelette Faction

Tuesday (5:23 AM)

"So they were covered from head to toe with the cloak?" Fundy asked, and Ranboo nodded for him. "Doesn't that mean you didn't see them clearly?"

"I only saw a part of their clothes," Techno grunted out. "But I think they're worth more than the rotten. They must at least be a corrupted."

Tubbo spoke up. "Why do you say that?"

"That guy wore something only high-class people would have. Also, the trees I marked had no red vines near it whatsoever. When I looked back, the trees and ground I walked on were covered in red. I can only assume two things." He raised his pointer finger. "One, they might be a player that wasn't involved in the history of conflict in this server like Callahan, or—" he then raised his middle finger, "—Two, they might be new to the server and became a corrupted."

The entire room broke out in outrage.

"IF IT WAS THE LATTER, THEN THAT WOULD MEAN DREAM WAS WORKING WITH THE EGGPIRE AND WHITELISTED THEM INTO THE SERVER!!!" Quackity screamed.

"Gee, why not you scream it louder for the Egg's slaves to hear us?" Jack grumbled. Niki jabbed at his ribs lightly, a silent order to not comment any further. Quackity glared at the bespectacled man, anger even more prominent in his eyes as he heard what he said under his breath.

"Oh, I'm so _so_ sorry for screaming out in rage and hurting your delicate eardrums knowing that our ends will be coming soon, Mr. I'm-So-Special-Because-I-Do-The-Bare-Minimum Manifuck."

"THAT'S IT!! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!!"

"THEN BRING IT, PUSSY!!"

The two stood up, ready to throw hands at each other. Niki had to restrain Jack while Sapnap held Quackity back by the waist.

"Stop! Stop! He isn't worth it," Sapnap said, trying to calm his husband down while glaring at the man across the room. Quackity gave a small 'hmph' and sat back down, crossing his hands in distaste as he continued to glare daggers at Jack. Niki sighed in frustration.

"We're doomed," Tubbo's voice echoed throughout the compound. His sentence made almost everyone in the room go completely silent.

"And here I thought we were supposed to be optimistic," Technoblade grumbled. "Guess it was for nothing." He gave a quick glance at Phil and said, "I told you so."

Phil pretended he didn't hear anything.

"So what happened after you fought them?" Karl inquired.

Technoblade looked away from them, hating the next part of the story. 

"I can continue it," Ranboo said awkwardly as he drew attention to himself. He quietly fidgeted in his seat. "I-I witnessed the end of their fight. It was, well..."

"Well?" Puffy parroted.

The Enderman hybrid flinched and made a small garbled noise at the back of his throat, nervously trying to put his thoughts into words. "W-Well,

"Let's just say that the one who won the fight wasn't on our side."


	2. Life in the Apocalypse is Hard when You Have a Ton of Baggage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some info about the Eggpire with a little bit of backstory sprinkled on top!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little warning for some gore in the flashback. Sorry in advance if the characters are a little OOC!

* • * • *

  
_"Techno?" Ranboo called out, worried. His gaze flickered around nervously, heterochromatic eyes trying to find at least a silhouette of his friend in the eerily silent forest._

_It's been almost an hour since Ranboo waited for him at their meeting spot. After gathering a ton of wood from his side of the forest while avoiding stray mobs and undead lackeys of the Eggpire, Techno was still nowhere to be seen._ Maybe he's running a bit late, _Ranboo thought, tail flicking back and forth as he continued to wait for his companion_. Or maybe something happened to him...

_While he was waiting, he crossed his arms and began to slowly reminisce the simpler times he had back when he was still new to the server. The friends he made, the silly jokes they shared, and what other memories he remembered and managed to put in his memory book. He grimaced slightly as he recalled some unsavory events that happened after the happier ones._

~~_(Was it all because of Dream? Or was it him? He couldn't tell them apart anymore!)_ ~~

_(He's slipping. That person's trying to take over.)_

_(He won't let him!)_

_~~**(Unless—** ~~ _ _~~**?)** ~~ _

_He willed himself not to think of the past anymore. It would be useless for him to be stuck in the 'what-ifs' that could've happened at that time._

_"Man, if only the Egg didn't exist..." Ranboo murmured to himself, clenching his fists. He sighed, exasperated at his current situation with the Eggpire and its troublesome yet growing army. "There would be no more chaos in this server. No more conflicts, no more wars; we can just go back to being friends again. A big family of sorts." He_ _looked to the sky with wistful eyes, as if there was some kind of unknown god who was willing to aid his endeavour. "I just wished for peace. I don't want to pick sides anymore; I just want to pick people._

_"I'm so sick and tired of playing the role of a puppet."_

_He slumped against the bark wearily, using the tree as a support to keep him standing. He looked to the ground, chuckling bitterly. "Who am I kidding? That's never going to happen."_

_(That's just wishful thinking.)_

_Ranboo groaned in frustration at his current predicament when suddenly, he heard footsteps trampling the snow._

Someone, no, something's there. _He glared at his surroundings, trying to find the source of the sound. It's worrying that Techno still isn't here yet. The man was usually prompt when it comes to time._

_Ranboo's ears twitched as he faintly hears the muffled groans of the red undead covered in vines and rotting flesh. He quickly placed his hand over his mouth and nose to keep him from letting out either a scream or his remaining lunch from earlier._

_It still made Ranboo sick to his stomach as he watched the decomposed corpses walk on the ground they shed their blood and tears to get their peace, following every order their group leader gives them through an undamaged yet hoarse and brittle throat. They smelled strongly of iron and dirt, and appeared to have some kind of super hearing from what he had seen so far. They also had fast reflexes, something unusual since they're, y'know, dead. But what truly made Ranboo baffled was their insane amount of strength. They could grip onto something really tight and barely let go unless you chop off the hand itself. He can speak from experience after a kidnapping attempt made by the Eggpire._

_(He tried to convince himself that Phil losing his left leg from the knee down wasn't his fault.)_

_(He tried to convince himself that what Technoblade said about him being the main character wasn't real.)_

_(He doesn't want that title.)_

~~_(Not after what happened to Tommy.)_ ~~

_With each passing minute, Ranboo became even more anxious as the other hybrid has yet to appear in front of him. He silently played with his hands while keeping an eye out for any enemies nearby, uncertain whether the person popping out of the forest would either be his companion or the Eggpire's quickly growing troops._

_In a fit of determination, he got up and tried to retrace Techno's footsteps, narrowly avoiding the infected and rotten walking through the forest covered in white._

_When Ranboo tried to remember which direction Techno specifically went to, he carefully pulled out his memory book and began flipping the pages lined with words and summaries of specific events._

' _Techno went right. I went left. We promised to meet up at the center when we finished gathering wood. Passed by infected and rotten. **Do not go further into the center.**_ '

_Ranboo closed the book, stored it inside his inventory, and began to hastily run towards the right, trying to not alert the nearby enemies of his position. They heavily outnumbered him and Techno, and Ranboo doesn't know the condition of his friend/mentor, so he opted to just quickly walk._

_As he wandered deeper into the left side of the forest, following the marks Technoblade left, he muttered under his breath, "I'm pretty sure that wasn't there before..." He took a closer look at the decaying trees, and he stifled a gasp._

_"N-No way... But how?" Ranboo muttered shakily, taken aback by the blood red tendrils. "How is that here? Scratch that, why is it here? Did someone bring it? Has it already managed to spread to the snow tundra?" He felt a sense of dread wash over him. He clutched at his hair in panic. "Oh no. Oh no no no no no. Please tell me Techno didn't run into someone dangerous."_

_Ranboo broke into a sprint, dodging and weaving through the vines entangling the place. He cursed, ignoring how the infected and rotten could've possibly heard him and continued to make a mad dash towards the seemingly never-ending crimson vine, hoping that Techno was safe. Or, as safe as someone could be in the apocalypse._

_Well, that hope quickly died the moment he thought of it as he witnessed this mess in front of him._

_There stood Technoblade to his left, body lying on the freezing cold snow painted_ with what might be his blood. _To Ranboo's right, a mysteriously hooded person with a blank mask stood , apathetically watching the piglin hybrid slowly bleed to death. Ranboo barely saw it, but at the corner of his eye, there were vines underneath the mysterious enemy._

_"TECHNO!!" Ranboo shouted, reaching out to tend to his wounds. "What happened to you? Who's this guy?" The piglin hybrid didn't respond, possibly disoriented. He quickly assessed the damage he took during the fight with that stranger and a wave of nausea washed over him a second time, another attempt at making him want to throw up resurface over how badly injured he was._

_Thick red lines bulged and pulsed underneath the skin of his leg ~~(Oh no. It's just like Philza all over again—)~~ , as if something was trying to crawl its way inside. His mask lay discarded on the ground, cleanly sliced in half. One of the large tusks were broken, and the other one sustained a lot of damage. There was blood dripping from his head, and a bunch of thinly sliced wounds littering his body. Ranboo assumed he got a concussion from how out of it he looked and a few broken ribs with how hard he's breathing._

_"What are you doing here?" Technoblade managed to say, eyes narrowing at his companion._

_"You didn't make it to our meeting spot on time," he replied quickly, eyes glued to Techno's enemy. Why are they just standing there? "I thought something must've happened to make you late."_

_"You shouldn't be here. That guy's dangerous."_

_Ranboo chuckled lightly. "It's nothing new. Honestly, Techno, I'm fine. More importantly," his wary gaze met an impassive mask and he resisted the urge to shiver. Ranboo thinks that the person was assessing him. "Techno, what on earth happened?_ _"_

_Techno didn't respond. Ranboo decided to ask him later._

_After the stranger decided to stop watching them, they turned around and disappeared from their sight like an apparition they hallucinated. The only things that remained of that strange ally of the Eggpire was the vines on the ground they stood on, and a wisp of black smoke that resembled a will-o'-wisp. Ranboo shuddered. "Who is that guy? I'm pretty sure we've met every player in this server. Did Dream whitelist them?"_

_Technoblade grunted, wincing a bit at the pain. He tried to ignore the way the vines that managed to crawl inside his skin writhe in eagerness. "If he did, then he's a pretty shitty guy to begin with. Good thing he lost his friends after he went to prison—Fuck!" He doubled over, trying to catch his breath as the bulging veins continued to invade his body from his limb. He huffed in pain, "Ranboo, do as I say right now. I want you to cut of my right leg."_

_"What?!" Ranboo said, alarmed. "B-But I—"_

_"Hurry!"_

Warning: Amputation  
AN: [Skip to the paragraph ( ) if you're not comfortable with reading this part. It may be two paragraphs, but I want to leave a warning just in case!]

_Ranboo fumbled with his sword, but managed to lift it above his head and whisper softly to his friend. "I'm sorry." The sword sliced off his right leg from the middle of his thigh and the searing hot pain made Techno harshly puncture his bottom lip to keep him from screaming in pain._

_The blood gushed out from the stump, and the vines that clung to his leg continued to squirm around like maggots dyed in dark red. Ranboo quickly took care of the severed leg and tried to stop the bleeding. He ripped a small strip of his cape and then began to give first aid to Techno._

(Amputation ends here)

. . .

_After taking care of Techno's wounds, Ranboo hauled the man up as gently as possible, using his tall body as a support beam. He took Technoblade's left arm and looped it around his neck while wrapping his right arm under his arm._

_"Hold on, we're going back to Phil," Ranboo told him. Techno didn't respond. "... Techno?"_

_After a moment of silence, Techno gruffly replied. "I'm fine, kid. There's no need to worry."_

_"It's hard not to when you're this close to losing one of your canon life."_

_"Technoblade never dies!"_

_The two gave a small smile at each other, tension and adrenaline dissipating from their shoulders._

_. . ._

_"You're heavy."_

_"Blame it on your weak noodle arms."_

_"Hey."_

* • * • *

**The Syndicate's Meeting Room**  
World Stronghold  
Pro-Omelette Faction  
Tuesday (5:46 AM)

"After we encountered that person, we went back to Phil to treat Techno's wounds," Ranboo concluded the story, leaving the entire room mildly disturbed and traumatized. Some of them threw up at the image of wriggling vines crawling under their skin while others held it in, enduring the bile that slowly crept up their throats like a spider climbing up a water spout.

"What happened to the infected and rotten? Weren't they nearby? How did you escape without encountering them?" Sapnap asked, looking ready to hurl out whatever remained in his stomach.

Ranboo answered, "Well, somehow we managed to not encounter any after infected while we went back, which was quite strange at that time." He placed his hand on his chin, contemplating for a bit. He whipped out his notebook again and skimmed to the pages he wrote after leaving Techno in Phil's care. He softly caressed the page, reading out its contents. "From what I wrote down, it said that there weren't any crimson mobs like the infected or rotten anywhere nearby after that strange person left. Even my notes said it's highly unusual for that to happen."

Karl had a haunted look in his eyes. "So what you're saying is that those things can be controlled by that guy?" His voice near the end gradually increased a few octaves.

Ranboo looked away from Karl, but everyone got the message.

It's a possibility.

"At least we know who to look out for," Tubbo said jovially, clasping his hands together. "Don't go near someone wearing a shady cloak. Stranger Danger and all that!"

Jack huffed, amused at Tubbo's antics. Most of the people within the meeting room shared a knowing look. Ranboo and a few other people gave a light chuckle while a some others scoffed or ignored Tubbo's comment. The atmosphere in the room felt a little lighter after that, even if it was for a short moment.

Karl clenched his fists and forced a tight-lipped smile. Sapnap and Quackity raised their brows and narrowed their eyes in suspicion, but said nothing about it.

Karl was thankful for that.

(He couldn't bear to think that the notes from the people who died in other timelines said this would be his last journey.)

(It just can't.)

~~_(But what if it was?)_ ~~

"Let's take a fifteen minute break," Puffy decided, stretching her limbs. "We'll need some time to digest what we recently discovered. Oh, and Sam?" The man in question looked at her. "Come with me for a bit." She grabbed his wrist and walked out of the meeting room, dragging the creeper hybrid with her.

The rest of the people inside quickly went to their groups, conversing and interacting with one another as they exchanged pleasantries and traded stories ranging from their everyday life in the apocalypse to what kind of shenanigans they were up to. The atmosphere in the room became fluffy and wholesome instead of the dark and menacing tension earlier.

It was at this moment that Niki abruptly stood up with Jack following suit. She gave them a strained smile, faking a warm and caring tone as she said, "We'll be right back. We just need to go do something real quick." Niki proceeded to make her way towards the door. Before she left with Jack, she turned to them and bid them goodbye.

"I'm guessing you brought me out here to eavesdrop on their little talk?"

"Oh, you know I did."

The two shared knowing grins, eyes manic and unstable.

"Let's go have a little stroll and coincidentally eavesdrop on them, shall we?"  
  


"What did you need me for?" Sam asked the sheep hybrid.

"Are you sure you're okay with working?" She said bluntly. Sam flinched. "I know you're taking Tommy's death—"

"Kidnapping."

She gave him a look. "Right. Kidnapping. Look, I know you're having a rough time now that Tommy's gone, but you gotta understand that he sacrificed himself for us to continue living. What would he think of we just wasted our chance?"

"......" Sam didn't reply yet. CaptainPuffy took that as a sign to continue.

"He's a wild card, I'll give you that, but it is to be expected that he would be targeted; and the way he rallied everyone at Doomsday? That says a lot about his charisma and leadership skills."

Sam slumped against the wall, frustration creasing his brows. He weakly responded with, "The problem is that he's still a kid, Puffy! The way they continue to use him and treat him as some sort of tool is _inhumane_. What's even worse is that he doesn't understand that it's not normal!! He actually thought of fighting in a war that could potentially kill him was something any kids his age would do, Puffy!! That's not something kids his age would do!!"

"Well, then what do you propose we do then?!" She snapped, grabbing his collar as she glared at him. "Stop wallowing in self-pity!! Our lives are on the fucking line, Sam!!! If you continue to think of the past and contemplate the "what-ifs" and "buts", then you shouldn't even be here.

"Do you think we like this? Sam, look around! We're forced to remain vigilant and to react quickly if we still want our heads on our bodies. The Overworld is already infested with the Eggpire's puppets, and it won't take very long until they reach the Nether and the End. Do you think that sitting here would help us in any way, shape, or form?"

"... No. It won't help us," Sam conceded. Puffy huffed, wiping angry tears from her eyes. "Get your act together, Sam. I-I don't want to lose another friend. Not after the fallout and Tommy's de—kidnapping." He gave her a sad smile, and opened his arms for a hug. Puffy took the invitation and lunged towards her best friend. "It's just not fair!!" She wailed. "Everyone keeps dying, Sam!! I-I just want things to go back to when we we're all living in what peace was left. Is it so wrong that I want Bad and Ant and the rest of us to get along? I don't want to hurt them, but it's all because of that Egg!! It's making us fight one another!! The kids deserve peace, _so why did it turn out like this?_ "

Sam tenderly patted her on the back, like a father comforting their child after they woke up from a nightmare. Even with their roles now reversed, with her crying and him comforting her, it didn't change the fact that they still care for each other. "I know."

"I just hope we come out of this situation alive."  
  


**???**  
???  
???  
???

"You are dismissed."

Footsteps can be heard as the person left the room. The man gave a long sigh, massaging his temples to lessen his headache. He removed his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Bad?" A voice spoke up.

"What do you want, Ant?"

"It's about Player ADN."

He gave a long groan, his headache becoming more prominent. "What about him?"

"He's still showing signs of resistance, sir. Player GHT isn't helping either."

Bad stood up, annoyed at the mention of that person. "Lead the way."  
  


**The Syndicate's Meeting Room**  
World Stronghold  
Pro-Omelette Faction  
Tuesday (6:01 AM)

Sam and CaptainPuffy re-entered the room in a better mood after they managed to talk out their complaints with one another. The rest of the surviving players gathered to the table.

CaptainPuffy sat down and folded her hands together, trying not to feel very anxious as the room went silent.

"Let's go over what we know about the Eggpire."

Techno folded his hands and said, "They have a mystery bastard on their team." Ranboo nodded in agreement.

Sam, "The infected and rotten move in groups; the head of those groups are usually rottens or on rare occasions, a corrupted."

"The Egg infects anything and everything the vines get their hands on," Ponk spoke up, looking grim at the reminder. "You have to either remove it by slicing the infected part out of your body or amputate the limb once it starts to affect your mental state. That would be the worst part."

Eret began, "The Egg prioritizes in numbers. As we already know, the vines take over the bodies of the living and controls the actions of the dead. They have no care on whose corpse they desecrated nor do they care for their troops unless they help their cause."

"The only distinguishable feature to tell them apart is that the infected can't speak, but they have quick reflexes for, you know, being dead." Ranboo continued where Eret left off. "The rotten, from what we've encountered so far, can speak and give orders to the infected like a corrupted, and also retain fragments of their memories, but they appear to be more unstable personality-wise than the infected and corrupted."

"It's something like a hierarchy."

"Exactly! The Eggpire has created a hierarchy, and the ones that would be treated like a commoner would be the infected. They appear to be more mangled and dirtier than the rotten."

Eret furrowed his brows, remembering how the infected looked. "They also have crimson vines covering their bodies like useless accessories; it's tacky and really limits their movement. It's good for us and bad for them though, so that's okay with me."

Within the depths of the Eggpire's main base, a bunch of infected and rotten made a mad dash to get the nearby tissues as [REDACTED] sneezed.

"I have to disagree on that," Fundy spoke up. He leaned his head onto his right hand and lazily lifted the other to point at Eret. "The vines wrapped around them aren't meant to be an accessory; it's meant to cling to us and trap us. Eret, have you ever wondered how quickly they gained an army?" Eret glowered at what Fundy was implying. "They used the vines as a way of not only restricting our movements, but to _infect_ us as well. It's in the name, and it's best we don't forget it."

A few others gulped.

"I think their aim is to have total control over the entire server, including the players," Niki voiced her thoughts. "The way they move their army is as if they were trained in fighting a big war; it's systematic, calculated, and well thought of."

"Yeah, but why would they want control?" Sapnap countered. "We know that they're rallying their troops by hook or by crook, but what do they plan on doing with controlling the entire server? It sounds more like a chore if you ask me."

George snorted. Quackity held back a laugh.

"W-Well, they might not like anyone opposing them?" She stuttered. Niki internally scoffed at them.

How stupid of them to question her.

She continued, hiding her smirk with her hand and faked a concerned look. "Though, if I may be honest, it sounds a lot like Dream..."

The entire room stilled at the name. Sapnap looked conflicted while George glared at her.

"Get on with it," the bespectacled man hissed at her. She could hear the sheer animosity from him in that statement.

"What do you mean? It's a valid theory."

"Dream isn't like that." Even Sapnap couldn't believe what he said. George looked conflicted. 

"But that's what he did!" She raised her voice, temper slightly flaring. "He went to war with L'Manburg! He took what belonged to _us_! He just keeps taking and taking **AND TAKING!** I had to fight for my **FREEDOM!!** I had to **ENDURE** Schlatt's evil rule over Manburg!! I feel like my suffering is invalidated at this point because of people like you who continue to defend him!! He should've just stayed in prison!!!"

"Niki, that's enough," Ranboo admonished her. "Do not throw baseless accusations at one another."

"Baseless? _**BASELESS?!**_ What part of me saying that Dream was behind all this is _baseless_?!" She slammed her hands on the table as she snarled. "That vile man deserves whatever happened to him! To this day, he still hasn't reappeared in front of us after _you_ ," she pointed her finger at Sapnap as if he was the incarnation of an abomination. "Insisted that he could be trusted!! We placed our trust on someone who has a history of betraying people!!"

Sapnap wilted at that; his face somehow resembled a kicked puppy. George didn't comment on the last part.

After all, everyone there knew it was true.

_(After all, most of them faced the brunt of that betrayal.)_

"Guys, guys," Puffy tried to diffuse the hostile tension between them. "Let's hear Niki out. It's unfair that you continue to defend Dream when he had proven time and time again that he couldn't be trusted. Just hear her out."

Niki relaxed a bit, thankful for Puffy defending her. 

"We already know he has a history of causing chaos," she began, and gave a little smirk at George and Sapnap before schooling her expression. Their glares hardened at her direction. She ignored it. "He's also well-known for going back on his word and being sporadic at times."

Ranboo murmured something along the lines of, "I'm pretty sure that also applies to me," but almost nobody picked up on it except for Technoblade, Puffy, and Tubbo.

"He's also shown to be switching sides a lot, so who could fault me for thinking that?" Her glance at George and Sapnap was about as subtle as a train wreck.

Philza coughed. "While that may be possible, it's still a theory. Unless we see him in action, we shouldn't jump to conclusions."

She visibly deflated at Phil's answer as she sank to her seat. Tubbo took his chance to voice his thoughts. _Something wasn't adding up._

"I know Technoblade and Ranboo said that the cloaked guy in black and red was with the Egg, but the weird thing is how they described how he acted," Tubbo frowned, placing his hand on his scarred chin. "We know that this guy works for the Egg, but I'm a bit surprised how none of you mentioned how they managed to sprout blood vines in the snow biome."

They all jolted, alarmed at what they forgot.

Tubbo continued, "That's not normal, even for a high ranking officer in the Eggpire. What we saw was something abnormal."

"What part of this is abnormal?" Quackity groaned. "It's the apocalypse. Anything can happen at this point."

"What's abnormal is that we've never seen this happen with the others who _were_ infected. Not even BadBoyHalo could do that; so how could _they_?"

"....." Nobody responded.

Puffy: "This is precisely why we need to destroy the Egg. This person might just single-handedly destroy all our progress against the Eggpire!! We need to stop them." Everyone agreed with her. "If you see that guy again, I want you to hightail it out of there and report whatever moves they made. Understood?"

They replied dutifully.

"On another note, have we found a new base for our stash?" Philza inquired. "After all, the other one got raided by the Eggpire."

"... We've found a few locations, but none of them are secure enough for the stronger and more valuable items like netherite." The creeper hybrid spat out distastefully. "We wouldn't have to find another one if you didn't go wander around the area."

"Don't put the blame on me. I was scouting for any nearby enemies. It's not my fault I ran into a hoard of rotten and infected. What we're _you_ doing?"

Sam huffed. "What any normal person would do in the apocalypse; have a mental and emotional breakdown— I was grieving, Phil!! _GRIEVING_!!! I thought you would know what it's like to lose a child considering you were the one who stabbed him back at November 16 last year."

Sam looked downright murderous at him.

Philza kept his smile pleasant and carefree, but the way he held the sword at his hip said otherwise.

"Guys," CaptainPuffy began tiredly, attracting attention to herself. The tension in the room increased as hostile glares were traded with one another. "ENOUGH!! We don't have all day, and this place might be ransacked at any moment. Consider yourself lucky that you didn't wake up in the middle of the night only to find your house swarmed with red vines, groups of infected and rotten, and a corrupted to personally wake you up by hitting you in the face." That made everyone shut up. "That's what I thought. Now, back to the topic; we need to make sure everyone has equal amount of information, so if anyone has something they want to say, say it now. We don't have all day."

Everyone remained silent.

She sighed. "That is all for today. Dismissed."

**???**

???

???

???

"It's so cold."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda new to posting in AO3, so I apologize for any sudden edits that weren't there before.
> 
> Feel free to comment whatever you think would happen next!


End file.
